Pretentious prick... You didn't have that A-lister vibe when you threatened me before. I know what you are now!
She turned to her screen, ignoring them completely. She copied a paragraph and began pasting it furiously across the document, scrolling up and down. She had to look extra busy.
They sat on the sofa next to each other, behind Noelle. She was able to monitor them through their reflections in the office's glass walls.
"I'm telling you, we should plan this for the 26th. Not earlier" Mi-Ok said.
"I have a break from shootings from the 20th to the 23rd. It has to be then" Ye-Jun replied.
"There isn't enough time to prepare" Mi-Ok protested.
"You either can sing the song or you can't. What preparations do you need?" Ye-Jun insisted.
"Everything! Like you don't know" Mi-Ok began to nag.
They fell silent afterwards, or at least she couldn't hear them. Noelle tried to figure out what they were doing through their reflections. She saw Mi-Ok leaning towards Ye-Jun. Noelle hoped they weren't about to kiss or anything. Thankfully, she heard her whispering.
"No..." Ye-Jun said. Noelle made many wild assumptions about what Mi-Ok might have asked, but they were all wrong.
After Ye-Jun's response, Mi-Ok asked without lowering her voice: "So, who is she, that new one?"
She was curious about her.
"Nobody..." Ye-Jun replied.
Noelle was devastated. How was she a nobody? They had just declared war. Hadn't Sun Tzu said, 'Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles'?
Oh, he is going down...
"Nobody? Come on... Tell me what she is doing here," Mi-Ok insisted.
"I'm telling you, she is not someone you should pay any attention to" Ye-Jun said again.
Noelle was digging her nails into her palm. Not only did he think so little of her, but they were speaking about her so openly when she was standing right there.
Unless...
"Now you're intriguing me more. I don't like her. Something in her eyes..." Mi-Ok told him.
She doesn't like me? My eyes? Is everyone crazy around here?
"I don't like her either" Ye-Jun affirmed.
We know that...
"I don't believe you. You aren't telling me who she is, so she is important" Mi-Ok assumed.
Me? Important? Hm... Maybe she is not that bad after all.
"I'm telling you. She's just an intern Chloe picked" Ye-Jun finally said.
Oh, now you remember...
"She is behind it. I knew it. She's always like that. Collecting distractions around you to keep us apart" Mi-Ok concluded.
I was wrong! She is a lunatic.
"Distractions?" Ye-Jun asked.
"That Myong bitch. It was all Chloe's idea, I know," Mi-Ok said.
I can smell crazy jealousy...
"It was the director's idea. Any others?" Ye-Jun insisted.
"Many. Including her" Mi-Ok replied.
Noelle could feel a pair of eyes stabbing into her back.
"What is she working on?" Mi-Ok demanded to know.
"Well... Me. She is working on... me" Ye-Jun said seductively.
Silence.
Noelle wondered why on earth he was provoking his girlfriend. Was this their game? She felt they were about to start fighting.
"You? No, I will not have this!" Mi-Ok said.
Fuck... That is what he's doing...
"Oh, come on! Don't be so harsh. She'll be gone in a couple of weeks" Ye-Jun said.
Cunning bastard!
"Are you taking her side? You want her here? You prefer her?" Mi-Ok screamed.
Noelle recalled Mi-Suk's words - don't say a word, no matter what.
Mi-Ok had wrapped her arms around herself and was staring straight at the wall across from her. That was all Noelle could see from her reflection. Then, without warning, Mi-Ok got up and moved towards her. Noelle pretended to keep writing, but Mi-Ok stood right in front of her.
She couldn't ignore her any longer. She raised her eyes and looked at her, without saying a word. Her heart was racing.
Oh, no, not again...
"Leave," Mi-Ok ordered in... English.
Noelle kept staring.
"Understand? No?" Mi-Ok continued in English. Her accent was terrible, but Noelle understood her perfectly.
"Doesn't she speak English either?" she asked Ye-Jun in Korean.
Noelle now affirmed her suspicion; they assumed she didn't speak Korean. Ye-Jun didn't answer, just shrugged his shoulders.
"Bitch, leave," Mi-Ok said in English again.
Now you've done it... Sorry, Mi-Suk.
"Hey!" Noelle said out loud and stood up. Her eyes were raging, and she knew she would say whatever was on her mind.
"Who the fuck do you think you are? Do you know me? No, you don't. And you don't need to know me. Just keep doing your fucking business, and I'll do mine!" Noelle cried out, very fast in English. She was the same height as her, and she could look straight into her eyes.
Mi-Ok was taken by surprise and just stood there blinking. Or maybe she hadn't fully understood.
Quickly, though, she regained her composure and moved closer to Noelle.
"He is mine" she continued in English, pointing at Ye-Jun, who, Noelle noticed, was staring at them quite seriously and expectantly.
"I couldn't care less. All yours" Noelle replied coldly, slowly and clearly.
You seem to deserve one another!
"Not work with him!" Mi-Ok ordered.
"I will work with anyone I am asked to work with. And you don't have a say in that" she said in Korean now.
She wanted to make sure Mi-Ok would fully understand.
Mi-Ok googled her eyes in surprise. Noelle caught a glimpse of a frowning Ye-Jun.
Both of you think that you got me, huh?
"She speaks Korean? You lied to me? You said she didn't!" Mi-Ok started yelling at Ye-Jun, who did not respond. "You, why are you here?" she asked in a frantic way.
"None of your business!" Noelle replied, unable to keep her colleague's wise advice.
"You slut!" Mi-Ok said and looked ready to assault her.
Before Noelle could say something, Ye-Jun was heard: "Enough with that mouth of yours. What the fuck are you saying?"
Mi-Ok turned to Ye-Jun. "Again? You are defending her? I will pluck every hair from her head to see if you will like her then!" she threatened and turned back to Noelle.
Seriously?
Was she actually considering laying a finger on her? No, Noelle didn't know any martial arts, not even a basic self-defense move. She never thought she would ever face anyone intending to pluck her hair.
But she knew she would fight back.
Mi-Ok reached out to grab anything she could, and Noelle instinctively raised her arms to block the attack. Mi-Ok grabbed Noelle's right arm. Noelle tried to block Mi-Ok's other hand with her left, but Mi-Ok was fast and managed to grab her ponytail. She started pulling, and Noelle could only squeeze her arm with all her strength, hoping to be released.
Shit, that hurts...